by This video presented by eHowPets teaches the proper ways to help your puppy go to bed on cue. The importance of this training that it helps in making your puppy understand that its crate is a good place to be in. This tutorial promotes positive association of the dog to its crate. Your puppy will think that, rather than it being a punishment, going to bed will lead to something positive.
The first step that the trainer does is placing the treat inside the crate and letting the puppy go inside to get it. Take note though that as the puppy goes in, the trainer gives the cue “go to bed” simultaneously. This will help your dog get associated with the command early. The second step that the trainer does is placing her hand with a treat in between the grills of the crate and hanging inside. The puppy in the video initially examines how it will get the treat. It tries to get it from the outside but eventually enters the crate to effectively get the treat. As the puppy enters the crate, the trainer repeats the cue “go to bed”. The trainer used a lure method that promotes a no-fail outcome.
After repeating the second step a couple of times, you should take off the reward and utilize just your hand as the lure. When the puppy goes inside the crate successfully, praise it verbally. This promotes reinforcement. It’s interesting to note that by randomly providing a treat instead of giving one every time, the dog will tend to work harder because it does not know when it will get the treat. Basically, in the end, you don’t want your puppy to rely on the treat but on your cue words.
The next step is to fade the hand and provide the dog without any lure. You know that there’s a lot of progress if your dog goes inside the crate by just following your “go to bed” command. Another great thing to do is to catch your dog going inside the crate and then uttering the command. This will help your dog get associated with the group of words assigned for that cue.
What’s great about this training process is that your puppy is not forced to do anything. You encourage your dog to make choices and with the steps that you provide, it gets a constant setup for success. Remember that dogs get motivated by different rewards. You have to find the biggest motivator for your dog and use it to the fullest! Take your time, be more patient. Some dogs might be harder to teach but with practice and a motivated trainer, it will eventually learn the command. Always stay positive during the dog training process.
Photo – www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyN18KZOSSE
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